Former EA execs score $2.8 million in funding for social gaming startup Plumbee

Blasting out of stealth with a fat wallet, Plumbee is looking to shake up the world of social gaming. Given that some mega-transactions have been occurring at the top of the industry, to see well-funded upstarts launch into the space is hardly surprising.

The company, while previously under the radar, has a team of twenty. The company today announced funding of some $2.8 million Idinvest Partners, an investment group based in Paris. Plumbee is founded by a cadre of former EA staffers who ended up there following its PlayFish acquisition. Put another way, if anyone knows social gaming, it’s these guys.

Plumbee is looking to make its mark with its first game, called Mirrorball Slots, which appears to have just launched on Facebook. The game has a mere 40 likes at the moment, indicating that it is brand new. In its announcement press release, Plumbee provides two links to the game: both are Facebook links. What platform the company intends to leverage is therefore quite plain. Here’s a shot of the game:

While Zynga is looking to move away from its Facebook dependency, the social giant remains a massive breeding ground of break out hits, and user engagement. For a company like Plumbee, putting the beta of its first game anywhere else would be pure lunacy.

The company has built a website proper for Mirrorball Slots, but it is little more than a placeholder, with links back to Facebook. Over the next few days, as the company looks for a viral wave to ride, I anticipate that the site will be expanded.

Plumbee is a new, and tiny fish in a ruthless marketplace. But if it can land a few million users on the double, it could just be the next big thing.